Fish-cleaning machine



N. Cl. NICHOLSON.

Y FISH CLEANING MACHINE APPLICATION FILED MAII. I7. I9I9.

l ,3 1 6,850. Patented Sept. 23, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

N. C. NICHOLSON.

FISH CLEANING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I7. |919.

1,316,850, Patentedsept. 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

f." BY

ATTORNEY N. C. NICHOLSON.y FISH CLEANING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I7, I9I9.

INvI-:N'TOR ATTORN EY UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE.

Tocll whom t concern Be it known that I, NIELs C.N1cHpLsoN, a citizen ofthe United States, resldmg at Seattle, in the county( ofKing and State ofA Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fish-Cleaning Machines, of which the following is a specification. I This invention relates to ishcleaning machines and its object is 'to provide a machine for efficiently and rapidly splitting and gutting small iish, snch as herring,` al though it may be used with other varietle's.

A further object of the invention .1s yto provide a machine of this character which 1s automatic in its action and provided with improved mechanism forholding, feeding and discharging the fish.

. With these ends in view, -the invention .consists in the novel vconstruction 'and combinatlon of devlces, as will be hereinafter` described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view partlyfin side elevation and partly in vertical section of a machine embodying my invention. 4 Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same. Fig. 3 -is a front elevational view of the revoluble vcarrier taken substantially from broken line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section through 4-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section through 5 5 of Fig. 2 and illustrating the rotary splitting knife in operating position.

The framework of the machine, indicated generally by 6, is provided adjacent to its rear end with bearing boxes 7 for a transverse shaft 8 having a pulley 9 on one end for a power-driven belt, not shown. Mounted on said shaft is a bevel toothed pinion 10 in mesh with a bevel ear 11 mounted on the upper end of an uprlght shaft 12 which is journaled in a bearing box 13 and also in thehub- 141 of a master spur gear 14 which is rigidly secured to a frame member 61.

Mounted to rotate with the shaft 12 and subjacent to the master gear 14 is a carrier 15 provided with journal boxes 161, 171 (Fig.

v3) for vertically disposed arbors 16 and 17 which are respectively rotated by means of gears 162 and 171 engaging the nnn-rotatory master gear 14 as they revolvewith the car- Specification `o1 Letters Patent. Patente Sept, 23, 191% npputiomea march 17, 1919. vserial-Np; 283,133.

lwhich is adjustably secured upon the screwthreaded lower portion or arbor 16 by means' `of nuts 19.

A brush wheel 2O having bristles 2 01 about its periphery is in like manner secured by nuts 21 to the arbor 17. Secured to carrier 15Iand located between the splitter 18 and brush 20 is a wedge-shaped device 22 hereinafter designated as the spreader, having a sharp forward edge 221 "and at its rear is made hollow to accommodate the brush.

23 (Fig. 1) represents a pair of abrasive bodies disposed .to engage the splitter about its circumference for maintaining the same sharp, said bodies as shown being connected by arms 24 to a collar 241 on the shaft 12 and are yieldingly held in juxtaposition with the splitter by a spring 242..

Adjacent to its front end, said Vframe is provided with boxes 25 in which. is seated a transversely arranged non-rotatable shaft 26 which extends through the hubs 27 provided in the heads 281 of a fish carrier or drum 28. Said drum is provided in its periphery with aV plurality ofradially disposed recesses 29 of substantially U shapes afforded by rentrant walls 30. v

The inner surfaces 301 of said recesses are each of a concave arcuate form concentric to the axis of the shaft 12 when the recesses are successively brought into the plane of the orbital travel ofthe aforesaid splitter' 18 and at the rear of the drum.

Provided in the drum for the respective recesses are series of fish-grasping devices (Figs. 4 and 5) comprising pairs of complementary levers31 and 32 disposed substantially radially of the' drum and fulcrumed upon rods 33 supported by the drum heads 271. The outer arms or jaws 311 and 321 of said levers are yieldingly caused, by means of springs 34 interposed between the other arms 312 and 322, to enter the respective recesses 29 through slots 302 provided there-for in the walls for the purpose of engaging fish subsequent to being deposited within the recesses, said sh being penetrated by sharp prongs 35 protruding from the opposing faces of the complementary jaws. For relatively opening and causing `said jaws to be, upon occasion, retracted .l from the recesses, I provide on the shaft' 26 To insure equal closing and opening\`` movements to the jaws of each pair of gripping devices, the associated levers are provided with arm elements 318 and 323, making ball and socket connections with each other. Intermittent rotary motion is imparted to the drum 28 and the latter is locked in predetermined positions by means i of the following mechanism.

38 represents a gear rigidly secured to an end of said drumandis providedl with spaced laterally protrudlng pins 381 upon Awhich are journaled rollers 382, one for each of the drum recesses 29. The ear 38 is also provided with notches to afor circumferentially spaced shoulder 383 arranged to be successively engaged by rollers 39\1 provided on pins 392 rotruding from a driving wheel 39. This w eel is of a diameter to halle its ers 382 of gear 38'until the latter is given a partial rotary movement by one of the.

rollers 391 acting against a gear shoulder to cause a gear roller to enter one of the slots 39s provided in the wheel, whereupon the Wheel, acting through the medium of a ear roller within a slot, rotatably advances t e gear, together with the drum, until the referred to gear roller has withdrawn from the slot and coacts with a second roller against the periphery of wheel 39 to'temporarily lock the drum during an ldle movement of the driving wheel.

The wheel 39 is mounted on a transverse shaft 40 subjacent to the shaft 26 and is rotated by means of bevel gears 41 from longitudinal Shaft 42 which, in turn, is driven by means of-bevel gears 43 from a transverse shaft 44 receiving its motion through the medium of bevel gears 45 from the upright shaft 12.

46 represents a circular cutter knife disposed in proximity to and at one side of the drum 28 for the purpose of removing the heads from fish 4as the are progressively car-` ried from the fish ceding to the guttingv positions of the drums rotatory movements. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the arbor 47 -of said cutter wheel is driven by means of a chain 48 passing'about sprocket wheels 471 and 81 on the arbor 47 and shaft 8, respectively. 49 represents a tablel upon which the fish are conveniently laid preparatory tobeing fed or deposited into the'recesses 29 when the latter are in their uppermostv positions.

The operation of the lnventlon 1s as follows:

brush are caused to rotate in the directionsv of arrows y by reason of the respective gears- 162 and 17 2 engaging theteeth ofthe nonrotatable master gear 14. Said upright shaft also serves to impart rotary motion through the medium of shafts 44 and 42 and gears 45, 43 and 41'to the shaft 40, upon which is mounted the slotted wheel 39.

In the illustrated embodiment, the-.wheel l 39 is rotated once to every four rotations of the carrier 15. The Aslotted Wheel 39 is rotated continuously during the operation of the machine and acts to transmit intermitirection denoted by p tent rotary motion to the drum. This is accomplished through the agency of its roll.- ers 391 which successively engage the shoulders 383 of pin gear 38 to rotatably advance the latter to cause one of the rollers thereof to enter a slot 393 of Wheel 39, whereby the pin gear is afforded a fourth of a rotation together with the drum 28 to which the pin gear is rigidly secured.

The above explained driving devices, it is to be note'd, are arranged to have a roller of the pin ear after belng withdrawn from a slot of w eel 39, coperate with a second pin gear roller, by both restin against the periphery of'wheel 39 interme iate its slots, to interrupt the rotary movement of the drum and temporarily retain the same at rest with one of its recesses,vas 291, Figs. 1 and 5, at the top, and another, as 2911, in position to enable the splitter, spreader and brush to pass therethrough.

With the drum thus idle, the operator takes a fish from table 49 and places 1t belly downward in the uppermost recess 291 and with its head protrudin beyond the end of the drum to be decapltated .by knife 46 when the drum is given rotary motion. The

drum, upon being given a fourth of a rotation, transfers the fish from the top to the side of the drum and into the orbital travel of the splitter. In-such rotatory.' travel, the lever arms 32'2 of. the fish-gripping devices are disengaged from the respective cams 36,

and guttin o and Vuntil di W ithithe drum temporarily stationary vin the position in which it is represented in Fig. 5, a fish, as F, held by the respective gripping ljaws within the recess 29- i's first cut by the splitter knife' 18 at one side of the backbone through its back into the I l l visceral cavity followed by the'spreader 22\ devlc'es carrled by the drumto successlvely` which enters the cutl thus made and distends the fish to aiford an opening through which the cleaningbrush" passes in its rotary movement While revolving with v the carrier 15.

The splitter or knife 18 and said brush. thus serve. to respectively slit a fish and..

- remove the intestines therefrom.

` If in the operation of the'machine a re- -cess is brought intoitsQ-E)b position unprovided with a fish, the splitter 18 and the forward portion `221 of the spreader pass between the respective jaws B11- 321 without encountering the prongs by reason of the rods 341 and nuts 34:2 retaining the jaws in spaced relations. The spreader 22H, moreover, is arranged in the absence of a lfish to engage the faces of thel jaws at or near the outer extremities thereof which is unprovided ywith teeth or prongs so that the latter cannot becomeA broken or mutilated by the spreader. Y l

" Various changes and modifications' may be made to the aforedescribed embodiment` the latter are successively treated to'vremove the viscera therefrom.

2. In a machine of the class described, {ish-carrying means provided with fish-receiving recesses revoluble' about a horizontal axis, means tosuccessively engage and release fish to and from said carrying means within the Vrespective recesses, and rotary fish slitting means revoluble in a plane disposed approximately radially of said iishcarrying means. l

3. In a machine of the class described, a fish carrier, means to impart intermittent movements thereto, means movablei transversely to the direction of travel of said perations 4are being performed ter is at rest to successlvely slit thefish and remove the vlscera therefrom.

ca rrier and rendered operable while the lat- 4f. In amachine ofthe class described, av

rotatable splitter` and a -brush revolving about, a vertical axis, a drum rotatable about a horizontal axis and serving as a fish carrier, means to afford uninterrupted revoluble movements to said splitter and brush and to impart intermittent rota movements to said drum to convey fis from the feeding position into osition to be treated by sai'd splitter and rush, and

moved from the referred-to treating position.

5. In a machine of the class described, a i I rotatable splitter and abrushrevolving about avertical axis, a drum rotatable about a horizontal axis and serving as a fish carrier, means to aiord intermittent rotary movements to said drum .to convey sh from the feeding position into position to be treated by said splitter and brush, and devices carried -by the drum to successively engage and vrelease the ish'prior to and subsequent to their being brought into and removed from the referred-to .treating position.

6. In a machine of th'e class described, a drum 'rotatable about a horizontal axis and provided with peripherally disposed fish-receiving-recesses, a rotary splitter revoluble about a vertical axis, means to rotate-said aforesaid means whereby the rotary movements of the drum are interrupted when .each of the recesses are successively brought within the path of travel of said splitter.

7. In a machine of the class described, a drum rotatable about a horizontal axis and provided with peripherally disposed fish-re-` ceiving recesses, a-rotary splitter, a rotary brush, said splitter and brush revolving about avertical axis, means to rotate said drum, and means rendered operable by the aforesaid means whereby'the rotary movedrum, and means rendered operable by the ments of the drum are interrupted when eachof the recesses are successively brought lvithliln the path of travel of said splitter and rus 8. 4In a machine of the class described, a

drum rotatable about a horizontal axis andv provided with peripherally disposed fish-receiving recesses, a rotary splitter revoluble about a vertical axis and in a plane with the ist axis of said drum, means to rotate said" drum, and means rendered operable by the aforesaid means whereby the rotary move-- ments of the drum are interrupted when each of the recesses are successively brought within the path of travel of said splitter.

9. In amachine of the class described, devices for treating fish to remove the vscera therefrom, consisting of a rotary carrier, a s litter and a brush revolubly mounted on t e carrier, means actuated by the revoluble movements of said s litter and said brush to effect the rotations tliereof, and means interosedbetween the splitter and brush wherey fish slitted by said splitter will have its bifurcations spread a art for the passage of said brush through the intestinal cavity of the fish. y

10. In a machine of the class described, a fish carrier, means to iln art intermittent movements thereto, sh sp itting and cleaning devices operable to treat the fish between the successive intermittent movements of the carrier, means rendered operable during the movements of the carrier for removin the fish heads, and means to engage and re ease the fish to and from said carrier during the successive periods of the carriers travel.

11. In. a machine'of the class described` intermittently driven fishcarrying means,

anism connecting the knife and the brush with said fish-carrying means whereby fish carried by the latter will be successively brought into ositionsto be treated by said knife and sai brush between the successive intermittent movements of said means, and.

`means serving to cause the releasing devices to become operative and inoperative' during the movements o f the aforesaid means.

12. In a machine of the class described, a

Vrotary drum provided with fish-receiving Signed at Seattle, Washington, this 7th day of March, 1919.

NIELS C. NICHOLSON.

Witnesses PIERRE BARNES, E. PETERSON. 

